Frankie Drake Mysteries roars into production on season two of 1920s-set drama

Wednesday 23rd May

Production has begun on the second season of Shaftesbury's 1920s-set Frankie Drake Mysteries, a co-production with CBC and UKTV and distributed by Kew Media Group.

Season one saw secrets emerge from Frankie's tightly hidden past, from discovering her mother alive and working as a con woman, to her friends uncovering her past as a spy. In the sophomore season, cases will take Frankie and her team of gal pals across prohibition-era Toronto, from renowned museums and high fashion houses, to dance halls and baseball leagues. Season one of the series garnered an audience average of 782,000 on CBC, making it CBC's second-most-watched drama of the current broadcast season*. Starring Lauren Lee Smith (The Shape of Water, The Listener, The L Word), the homegrown hit series will film on location in Ontario this summer.

"There has never been a more exciting and important time for sharing women's stories, creating new role models, and changing perceptions of what women can do. Frankie Drake Mysteries is a detective drama set in 1920s Toronto featuring four brave and adventurous women working together to solve cases and fight crime - often in opposition of society's expectations of a woman's place in the world at that time," said Christina Jennings, Chairman & CEO, Shaftesbury / Executive Producer, Frankie Drake Mysteries. "Viewers connected with these strong characters in season one; we're thrilled to bring more of these stories to life and continue working with our incredible cast, led by Lauren Lee Smith."

"We're proud of the dynamic storytelling and all-female lead cast featured in Frankie Drake Mysteries that clearly resonated with Canadian audiences throughout the first season," said Sally Catto, general manager, programming, CBC. "We look forward to offering our viewers even more of the action, adventure and drama that made this series a favourite in its first year."

Frankie Drake Mysteries series one launched on UKTV's Alibi channel in January 2018. The show remains one of Alibi's top-performing shows of the year alongside Murdoch Mysteries and is up 210% on slot on average.

Emma Sparks, UKTV's head of acquisitions, said

Frankie Drake Mysteries launched with huge success on UKTV's premium crime drama channel Alibi. The UK fell in love with Frankie's dynamism. We are delighted to work with Shaftesbury again to co-produce another successful season and can't wait for more action and adventure with Frankie and her team of detectives!

Greg Phillips, President of Distribution at Kew Media Group), commented: "Well-executed dramas featuring talented, strong female leads have always been popular, but are in particularly high demand right now. With the added bonus of becoming a higher volume series, Frankie Drake Mysteries holds even greater appeal internationally. It's great to be partnering again with the excellent team at Shaftesbury to bring more eagerly anticipated episodes to our buyers and viewers around the world."

Season two episodes will be directed by Ruba Nadda (helming five episodes as lead director), Cal Coons, Peter Stebbings, and Sudz Sutherland, and written by co-creator Carol Hay, showrunner James Hurst, Andrew Burrows-Trotman, John Callaghan, Cal Coons, and Jessie Gabe.

Set in 1920s Toronto, Frankie Drake Mysteries follows the city's only female private detectives as they take on the cases the police don't want to touch. In a time of change and hopefulness, their gender is their biggest advantage as they defy expectations and rebel against convention. Their cases take them through every cross-section of Toronto, meeting people of all backgrounds and means, as well as historical characters, along the way. Frankie and Trudy's fearless sense of adventure gets them into all kinds of trouble, but they always manage to find a way out. They are new detectives for a new world - but is the world ready for them?

Created by Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci, Frankie Drake Mysteries is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Carol Hay, and James Hurst, who also serves as showrunner; Ruba Nadda serves as lead director/co-executive producer, John Callaghan and Jessie Gabe co-executive produce, and Teresa Ho is producer. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Helen Asimakis is Senior Director, Scripted Content; and Melanie Nepinak Hadley is Executive in Charge of Production. Bonnie Brownlee is Executive Director, Marketing.

A CBC original series, Frankie Drake Mysteries is developed and produced by Shaftesbury in association with CBC and UKTV, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. Kew Media Group is the global distributor of the series.

#FrankieDrakeMysteries | #MysteryMonday

To download this release and for more information on this and other Shaftesbury series, please visit the Shaftesbury media site at shaftesbury.ca/media.

Notes to Editors

About Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television, film, digital, and brands. Shaftesbury's current slate includes 12 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, UKTV, and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment, two seasons of detective drama Frankie Drake Mysteries for CBC and UKTV, and two seasons of critically acclaimed thriller series Slasher for Netflix. Shaftesbury's digital arm produces original digital, convergent, and branded entertainment projects including the global phenomenon Carmilla, scripted comedy Upstairs Amy for Walmart and Interac(R), supernatural drama Inhuman Condition, and the Slasher VR app for iOS, Android, and Oculus Rift. Shaftesbury's branded entertainment division drives profitable engagement with millennials using scripted series, turning brands into executive producers. Recent brand partners include Walmart, Interac(R), U by Kotex(R), and RBC.

About CBC/Radio-Canada:
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada's trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.

About Alibi
Sky 132, Virgin 126
Alibi is the only TV channel dedicated to crime drama, promising the best selection from the genre premiering hit US series such as Rosewood and Quantico. The channel also features some of British TV's best-known detectives such as Miss Marple and most-loved British crime dramas including Death in Paradise, Father Brown and Silent Witness. Plus, the original crime scene detective Doctor William Murdoch in the channel's popular co-production, Murdoch Mysteries.alibi.uktv.co.uk | @alibichannel

About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 40m viewers every month.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.

The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Studios and Discovery, Inc. - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress

About Kew Media Group
Kew Media Group produces and acquires more than 1,000 hours of new multi-genre content every year and distributes Kew's catalogue of film, television and digital assets to more than 150 countries worldwide on almost every available viewing platform. Kew Media Group distributes a library of more than 10,000 hours of TV and digital content including major drama series, non-fiction entertainment, special event programming, kids' series, TV movies and mini-series. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.kewmedia.com